Drawing A Crowd * Thousands Came To Celebrate The Opening Of The Two Rivers Landing Visitors Center.

July 17, 1996|by MADELEINE MATHIAS, The Morning Call

An estimated 30,000-50,000 people jammed downtown Easton yesterday to celebrate the opening of the Two Rivers Landing Visitors Center.

The highlight of the festivities, dubbed ColorJam '96, was a parade of more than 2,000 people who wore colors to match their colorful names.

On an appropriately picture-perfect day, local, state and national officials shared a podium to cheer the center, where visitors can see how Crayola crayons are made and how transportation evolved along the Delaware and Lehigh canals and rivers.

One lucky visitor, Darlene Martin of Port Orchard, Wash., held the one billionth Crayola crayon -- the one that made her $100,000 richer.

Gov. Tom Ridge, who was accompanied by his wife and two children, said he would have hated to miss the festivities, even though he lacks a colorful name, such as that of Mayor Thomas Goldsmith -- who marked the occasion with a bright gold tie.

After the parade, Ridge said he was more convinced that crayons were the colors of imagination. "Something magical happens when you open a new box and you are greeted with a burst of color," he said. "And when you open that box, there are hints of creativity, hues of inspiration and shades of your dreams.

"Crayola crayons are more than a glob of wax. They are a child's first tool of expression, unlocking the artist in the child."

For Goldsmith, the Two Rivers Landing opening culminated the vision he had of his hometown ridding itself of blight and empty stores and returning to a city of pride and success.

Two Rivers Landing has done that, he said. New restaurants and specialty stores are opening downtown and existing businesses are gaining higher sales. But most important, he said, are the views expressed by city residents every day.

"They are proud to be part of the new Easton and are, for the first time in a generation, optimistic about its future," he said.

Goldsmith credited the public-private partnership that he said made the $9 million project possible. He saluted partners Binney & Smith Inc., Crayola Crayon manufacturers; the Hugh Moore Park Commission, who planned the National Canal Museum; the state; the Delaware and Lehigh Canal National Heritage Corridor; and the Easton Economic Development Corp.

Goldsmith recalled how he shared the idea of the visitors center with Ridge when he visited the area during his 1994 campaign for governor. He noted how the state has provided almost $3 million for the project and thanked Ridge for getting a firsthand look "at the great investment the commonwealth has made in Easton."

Rich Gurin, Binney's president and chief executive officer, sported matching Crayola Crayon tie and suspenders. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood," he said, borrowing a line from children's public television personality Fred "Mister" Rogers.

Gurin said Two Rivers Landing began with the idea of helping downtown Easton and trying to accommodate the thousands of visitors who came each year to the Forks Township plant to see crayons being made. "We had to turn away about 30,000 people a year," he said. "We thought there had to be a better way to show our product."

He said he, city officials and EEDC and Lafayette College representatives went to the Kansas City, Mo., headquarters of Hallmark Inc. -- Binney's parent company -- in 1992 to present their strategy.

A year later, the partnerships were developed and the roots for the Two Rivers Landing were planted, he said.

He presented William Hall of the Hallmark Foundation with an original pen-and-ink drawing of Two Rivers Landing by Tim Hare, an Easton artist.

Both Gurin and Goldsmith were overwhelmed by the crowd, saying they never expected so large a turnout. Goldsmith said it was "beyond my greatest dreams" and Gurin described it as the "most colorful day of my life."

Martin, who traded her lucky crayon for $100,000, felt the same way. When Gurin asked if she wanted to keep the 100 billionth Crayola Crayon, made last February when Mister Rogers paid a visit to Binney & Smith, she said she was tempted to, but then reality set in. "I can use the money," she said, noting she and her husband live on Social Security.

She, a housewife, her husband, a retired Subaru service manager, a daughter and granddaughter were flown to Easton -- as were the other finalists -- for a four-day trip.

"It is so pretty here," Martin said, "I would like to come back.

Right now she has no plans for the money, but the grandmother of 10 said it would help with the family's retirement and maybe a trip.

The Martins were taken last night in a stretch limousine to Lehigh Valley International Airport to catch their plane home, a lot richer than when they came.

The awarding of the 100 billionth Crayola crayon was part of a national promotion by Binney & Smith. When the 100 billionth Crayola crayon was made in February, it was put in a safe. The company put 10 gold-foil-wrapped crayons in boxes throughout the country, as did Binney & Smith in Canada. But, by the deadline in June, only four of the gold-wrapped crayons surfaced in the United States and one in Canada. The balance of the winners were selected through a second-chance contest and a random drawing.

Binney had agreed it would buy the special crayon back for a $100,000 bond.